Help coming
to terms with
loss of sight

Deborah Punshon

Visually-impaired residents will benefit from a new support network starting at Falkirk Community Hospital this week.

Vision Support Service will offer emotional and practical to people coming to terms with sight loss.

The news comes after Scotland’s leading sight loss charity RNIB joined forces with NHS Forth Valley.

Support staff will talk through conditions with people, put them in touch with others going through the same thing, and offer advice about aids and equipment that will help people keep their independence.

Clare Jewell from RNIB Scotland said: “Being told you will lose some or all of your vision can be devastating, and we need to give people the help and reassurance they need to find their lives again.”

RNIB say that 10 people begin to lose their sight every day in Scotland but that only one in six gets support.

Clare Ballance, clinical service manager (ophthalmology) with NHS Forth Valley said: “The new Vision Support Service allows us to provide help and advice within the eye clinic at the time when they need it most.”